News

LGBTQ advocates say outing students without consent could put them in danger. By Kiara Alfonseca On September 6, 2023 A California judge has issued a temporary restraining order on what Attorney General Rob Bonta calls Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education’s “forced outing policy.” The policy would require schools to inform parents if a student…

By Shawna Mizelle On September 6, 2023 A federal judge on Tuesday restored the enforcement of a law in Georgia that banned licensed medical professionals in the state from providing patients under the age of 18 with cross-sex hormone therapy. Last month, a federal judge temporarily blocked parts of Georgia’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth…

By Jonathan Mattise On September 1, 2023 A federal judge has ruled law enforcement officials can’t use a Tennessee law that strictly limits drag shows to interfere with a local Pride festival this weekend NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge ruled Friday that law enforcement officials can’t use a Tennessee law that strictly limits drag shows…

By Matt Lavietes On September 5, 2023 The Kids Online Safety Act, aimed at protecting children from harmful online content, has been endorsed by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, as well as by President Joe Biden. A co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill intended to protect children from the dangers of social media and…

By Kiara Alfonseca On August 30, 2023 The warning cites laws and policies impacting the LGBTQ community. Canada’s travel advisory for visitors to the United States has been updated to warn LGBTQ travelers about laws and policies that may affect the community. “Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons,” the travel…

By Jo Yurcaba On August 30, 2023 Students and teachers have to contend with a variety of restrictions on LGBTQ content and bathroom and pronoun use. Brian Kerekes, a high school statistics teacher in Florida, said he froze like “a deer in headlights” when a student asked him a personal question at the beginning of…

By Carlos Ballesteros, Shannon Heffernan (WBEZ) and Amy Qin (WBEZ) On August 30, 2023 Phillip Merritt’s dementia is so advanced he’s lost the ability to speak. But with the help of his cellmates at Western Illinois Correctional Center, the 71-year-old still manages to get on the phone with his brother every few weeks. “He has…

By Chris Grabb On August 27, 2023 ALBANY – New York State is facing an onslaught of lawsuits accusing prison officers of sexually abusing adult inmates, litigation allowed under a new one-year window for survivors to sue, regardless of when the abuse occurred. A single Manhattan-based law firm, Levy Konigsberg LLP, is handling more than…

By Eddie Burkhalter On August 24, 2023 It’s been eleven days since Derrol Shaw walked the hallways of William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility carrying a semi-automatic pistol, and the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) has yet to publicly mention the gun or provide the public with assurances that whatever security failures led to the bizarre…

By Stewart Bishop On August 25, 2023 A divided U.S. Sentencing Commission has voted to retroactively apply changes to sentencing guidelines that will allow potentially thousands of defendants who were sentenced as first-time offenders to petition courts for a reduction in their prison terms.  The criminal history guidelines reform from the commissioners — all of whom were…